Rolling mill guide



' W. c. M BAIN EIAL 2,230, 7

ROLLING MILL GUIDE Filed June 23, 1958' INVENTORS William CtMcBain 9 William K. Blaflman Patented Feb. 4, 1941 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE ROLLING GUIDE Application June 23, 1938, Serial No. 215,392

4 Claims.

This invention relates to the art of rolling and particularly to rolling mill guides.

As is well known, the cold rolling of metallic strip develops a substantial amount of heat be- 5 cause of the work performed on it in reducin its thickness. If the strip is not artificially cooled during the rolling, the heat generated therein will be absorbed by the mill rolls and the latter will become distorted. This changes the shape of the pass between the rolls and adverselyaifects the uniformity of gauge of the finished strip across its width. Numerous expedients have been resorted to in the past for cooling the strip during cold rolling. According to one of these the strip is fiooded with oil, or water, generally mixed with an appreciable percentage of soluble oil and forming an emulsion. Occasionally water is used clear or with various substances to retard rusting. These expedients have in many cases been found objectionable. Oil is not as effective a coolant as are some of the other coolants used. When applied in the form of sprays on the strip, it is thrown ofi in a vapor that involves a considerable fire hazard. Moreover, it collects considerable dirt and is difiicult to clean, where Water and oil emulsions likewise pick up considerable dirt which is rather diflicult to remove. Many of the soluble oils on the market do not possess germicidal qualities to render them desirable from the standpoint of good sanitation. When such emulsions are used they generally must be changed quite frequently, thus entailing considerable expense where this type 35 of cooling is employed. It is rather diflicult to keep the emulsion out of the mill bearings and a tendency to rusting of the bearings results. When water or water emulsions are used, the humidity is increased. This has a tendency to 40 rust the coils of finished steel in the vicinity of the mill.

Any liquid used for cooling is apt to be scattered on the finishing side of the mill which is naturally objectionable, and particularly so since 45 it prevents the coiling of paper with the strip to produce material having a very high polish or a so-called "mirror finish. In some cases furthermore, a higher lustre can be obtained with dry rolling than with wet rolling.

In the rolling of some classes of strip such as steel strip for tin plate, there is a serious objection to the use of either straight mineral oil or soluble oil emulsion because the film left on the strip surface interferes with the subsequent tinning operation. To remove all of the oil a subsequent cleaning operation becomes necessary. The same thing applies to steel strip that is to be covered with either enamel or rubber.

According to our invention, we roll strip dry 5 and provide novel guides with air passages for cooling it. This avoids all the aforementioned objections to wet rolling. In particular, the cleaning operation is considerably simplified or eliminated altogether. Our guides are partic- 10 ularly desirable for skin passing or temper passing steel strip after its final anneal, but are not limited thereto. When rolling strip dry, it has been necessary heretofore to operate the mill at slow speeds and with light drafts to 15 avoid excessive heating. With our new guides for air cooling, the mill may be operated at high speeds and the shape of the mill or pass is instantaneously responsive to the control of the operator.

Specifically, our new and improved method of cooling accomplishes the following results:

1. Reduces the fire hazard.

2. Eliminates or reduces rusting of strip in storage near mill.

fl 3. Eliminates splashing of the operators with uid.

4'. Eliminates much of the danger of infection that is met with where cooling emulsions are used.

5. Makes it possible to roll steel dry to produce mirror finish and at the same time at a higher rate of rolling speed than has been possible heretofore.

6. Eliminates necessity for cleaning of tin plate before white pickle.

7. Furnishes surface conditions better adapted for subsequent operations such as painting or covering with rubber.

A complete understanding of the invention and the advantages thereof may be obtained from the following detailed description which is to be read in connection with the accompanying drawing illustrating a present preferred embodiment and practice. In the drawing- Figure 1 is a diagrammatic sectional view taken centrally through a rolling mill having cooling apparatus in accordance with the invention associated therewith, showing strip in the process of being rolled,

Figure 2 is a diagrammatic horizontal sectional view taken along the line -II--II of Figure 1,

Figure 3 is a plan view of one of the bottom guides forming part of the apparatus,

Figure 4 is a cross-section along the line IV-IV of Figure 3, and

Figure 5 is a partial sectional view showing a portion of Figure 1 to enlarged scale.

Referring now to Figure 1, a. rolling mill to of the usual 4-high reversing type includes housings H, backing-rolls l2 and work-rolls l3. The

I rolls are journaled in suitable bearings (not shown), slidably mounted in the housing windows l4. Unwinding and winding reels l5 and iii are located on opposite sides of the mill l0, and are provided with suitable driving means whereby a strip l'l may be unwound from a coil l8, passed between the work rolls l3, and recoiled on the reel l6. Guiding sheaves l9, cooperate with the reels to guide the strip from the latter to the mill and vice versa.

Air for cooling the strip is supplied by a blower 20 through a system of piping 2| under the control of valves 22 and 23 to bottom guides 29 and 30. The guides discharge cooling air on to the bottom surface of the strip I'I either before entering the pass or after leaving the pass or both as described further in connection with the air cooling guides shown again in Figures 3 and 4. In Figure 3 is shown the plan and in Figure 4 a cross-section of the bottom guide proper 29. This consists of a slab of wood about the same width as the strip to be rolled. At least one end of the guide is generally beveled as shown at 3| in Figure 4 to fit into the bite of the rolls, An air duct 32 is connected to the guide. Air is preferably distributed over the surface of the guide as shown in Figure 3 by means of a recess 33 and grooves 34. The grooves are preferably not quite parallel to the direction of travel of the strip, the slight angularity serving to prevent the wearing of shiny streaks on the strip. These preferably end in vent holes 35 and 36. Figure 4 also shows a covering 31 of cloth or suede, which is held secure on guide 29 by means of nails 38. The upper guides shown at 39 and 40 in Figure 1 are also covered with cloth or suede in one form of our invention. If desired, the cooling effect of the guides on the strip may be supplemented by air jets directed on to the rolls l3 by nozzles 24 and 25, under the control of valves 26 and 21. Pipes 28 connected to the piping system 2! supply air to the nozzles.

When liquids are used for cooling the rolls of a cold strip mill, it is generally desirable to shut off the flow on the finishing side of the mill on account of the amount of splashing. In other either side or both sides of the mill.

words, where liquid cooling is used on the-strip and rolls, its use is generally limited to the feedin side of the mill. Our new system of air cooling can be used with equal convenience on The resulting cooling effect is naturally greater than can be obtained by the application of coolant to the strip on only one sideof the mill.

While we have illustrated and described herein but a preferred embodiment and practice of the invention, it will be understood that changes in the construction and procedure disclosed may be made without departing from the. spirit of the invention or the scope of the appended claims.

We claim:

1. Guides for a.rolling mill comprising a pair of opposed, substantially fiat members having substantially plane surfaces between which the material being rolled is passed, one of said members having a recess therein extending transversely of the direction of travel of said material, the plane surface of said one of said members having grooves therein extending at a slight angle to said direction and intersecting said recess, and connections for supplying a coolant to said recess.

2. Guides for a rolling mill comprising a pair of opposed, substantially flat members having substantially plane surfaces between which the material being rolled is passed, one of said members having a recess therein extending transversely of the direction of travel of said material, the plane surface of said one of said members having grooves therein extending along said direction and intersecting said recess, and connections for supplying a coolant to said recess.

3. Guides for a rolling mill as defined by claim 2 characterized by vent holes through said one of said members intersecting said grooves.

4. Guides for a rolling mill comprising a pair of opposed, substantially flat members having substantially plane surfaces between which the material being rolled is passed, one of said members having a recess therein extending transversely of the direction of travel of said material, the plane surface of said one of said members having grooves therein, certain of said grooves being inclined in one direction and the remainder in the other, to the direction of travel of said material, the grooves inclined in opposite directions intersecting each other and said recess, and connections for supplying a coolant to said recess.

WILLIAM C. MoBAIN. WILLIAM K. BLATTMAN. 

